Long Beach approves cement terminal expansion

Mitsubishi Cement has agreed to several measures to mitigate air pollution at the Port of Long Beach site.    The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners on Friday approved the Mitsubishi Cement Facility Modification Project, greenlighting the addition of 40,000 metric tons of additional storage capacity and loading silos on vacant port property adjacent to Mitsubishi’s existing facility at the Port’s Pier F. The site will increase in size from 4.21 acres to 5.92 acres. The board’s approval was contingent on environmental measures and upgrades.
   The expansion will help meet growing demand for cement as the economy improves and construction increases, the Long Beach port authority said.
   The terminal receives imported cement and cement-like materials via bulk cargo ships. The product is stored in a warehouse or in silos before being loaded onto trucks and taken to local and regional concrete batch plants. 
   Conditions for approval include that Mitsubishi Cement maintain a truck fleet with at least 90 percent of vehicles having engines from 2010 or newer. Mitsubishi will also install solar panels and energy-efficient lighting and conduct an energy audit every five years, to help the port meet clean air goals. The company will also work with the port identify new technologies every five years that can be incorporated into operations to further reduce emissions.
   While the terminal already offers shore power so ships at berth can shut down their engines to reduce emissions, not all vessels are able to plug in. With the upgrades, when ships can’t use shore power, a new emission control system called “Dockside Catalytic Control” will connect to the vessels’ exhaust stacks and capture pollutants. The system will rest on the pier. 
   A company called Advanced Cleanup Technologies has been testing a similar type of system mounted on a barge that can clean and capture emissions from vessels that don’t have modifications to hook up to shore power, as mandated by California for half of all container, reefer and passenger vessels to keep harmful pollutants out of the air. (See “California’s shore power alternative,” pp. 56-59 in the May issue of American Shipper).
   The approved project also calls for Mitsubishi Cement to contribute $333,720 to the Port’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Grant Program. The Port Community Mitigation Grant Programs are designed to improve community health by lessening the impacts of Port-related air pollution, and to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
   Construction of the improvements is expected to take two to three years.